A few yards from the statue of I)upleix is the Place du Gouvernement, on the right of which is Government House, or La Gouvernement—a fine substantial building. In the centre of the Place is a curious rectangular stone building, which, on approaching, we discovered to be a fountain. A quaint Latin inscription records that here, in olden times, stood a dancing girl's house. A King and his minister were passing in the dusk of the evening when they saw a light burning in it, and mistaking it for a shrine they worshipped at it. But when the mistake was discovered the king was so wroth that he ordered it to be levelled to the ground, and a fountain mysteriously sprung up at the spot. The King and his minister mistaking at night a dancing girl's house for a shrine might create a suspicion in a vulgar mind. The origin of the legend is, however, probably due to the fact that two miles from Pondicherry is a tank which was dug at the expense of a dancing girl, and from this tank comes the water of the fountain. Another inscription informs us that on this spot stood the original citadel built by Francois Martin, the founder of Pondicherry. Francois had lent the Governor of Gingee money which he could not repay, and in return he bestowed on him a village near the coast and gave him permission to fortify a strip of land by the sea. The fortification that Martin erected could not have been of any great extent, seeing that it cost only the modest sum of seven hundred crowns. Beneath the shelter of the slender walls, he however pro ceeded to lay out streets and to build houses for the native weavers, whom the wished to attract to his new settlement. The aim of his policy was to gather at Pondicherry a thrifty, loyal population, and he was wise enough to see that the best way of doing this was by respecting the manners, customs and religion of the people, and so winning their love and confidence. His policy proved eminently success ful. However, just as Martin's little colony began to rise and flourish, a grave danger menaced it. Shivaji seized Gingee and threatened an attack on the new settlement. But Martin pacified the great Freebooter by a present of 50o pagodas, and he obtained from him a grant for the French to reside at Pondicherry in perpetuity, on condition they did not interfere in the wars of the neighbouring States. Shivaji, however, insisted that the French should pay him a heavy tax on the imports and exports of the little colony which continued to grow in wealth and importance. To protect it still further Martin now threw around the town a wall which was flanked by four towers, each of which mounted six guns. Martin had hardly finished the new fortifications when war broke out between France and Holland, and in 1693 Pondicherry was attacked by a Dutch fleet consisting of nineteen ships of war. Martin, who had only forty European soldiers to defend the place, was com pelled to surrender. The Dutch fully realised the value of their new possession and proceeded to improve the town and fortification to make it the capital of their Indian possessions. But five years after it had come into their hands, the treaty of Ryswick restored Pondicherry to the French. Martin hastened from France, again to take possession of the city which he had founded, but the Dutch refused to restore it until they had been handsomely com pensated for the improvements they had made. A French writer, with patriotic indignation, states : " The sale, characteristic of a nation of traders, took place on the uth September, 1699, when Martin paid 16,000 pagodas to the Director of the Dutch Company as the price of the improve ments and fortifications they had made." Under the wise and vigorous administrations of Martin the town rapidly grew in prosperity. He mapped out new streets on the lines of an important European capital, erected substantial houses, warehouses and shops, and built a palace for the Governor. When the English had only a small factory at Calcutta, and Chowringee was a malarious swamp, Pondicherry was a flourishing town with fifty thousand inhabitants. For the greater protection of the city Martin proceeded to construct a citadel after the model of Tournay. When finished, the new fortress was conse crated with great pomp and ceremony. On the 25th August, 1706, a stately procession of laymen and priests, chanting the Tc Deum and Exaudiat, wended its way around the town, and as it reached a bastion the cannons sent forth a roar of triumph and joy. This was the crowning day of Francois Martin's life. A few months later the patriot's manly heart ceased to beat. The priest who buried him wrote : Near the fountain, according to local tradition, lie buried the remains of Francois Martin, a man worthy to rank with Hastings, Munro, Elphinstone. Like all men who have
been great and successful administrators in India, he possessed the intuitive knowledge that kindness and sym pathy are potent factors in governing Orientals.
Leaving the fountain, we walk to the end of the square opposite to Government House, and take the street which leads by the cathedral called Notre Dame des Anges. It is built after the modern Italian style of architecture, which the Portuguese have so frequently employed at Goa, and which lends itself to the use of white chunam. From an architectural point of view there is nothing to admire, but there is nothing positively ugly or offensive, as is the case with the majority of churches built by the English in India. It has been said that the fanes for prayer erected by a people express in stone their highest aspirations. A cynic has remarked that the churches erected by Anglo-Indians at the beginning of last century are a striking example of the truth of the statement. The square body of the church represents a beer case, and the short ugly steeple the beer bottle.
Going from the Cathedral we enter a narrow street, and coming to a gateway with the door open we enter a court yard which contains some old tombs. Among them we find a plain substantial one, on which is inscribed the name of Bussy. Here lies at rest, after a stormy career, the great French general, whose sagacity and address was equal to that of Warren Hastings, and whose courage and genius were hardly inferior to Clive's. It is strange that no French writer has given us a satisfactory memoir of Bussy. It is the English historian who, in stately prose, worthy of his theme, has given an account of the campaign in which Bussy played so prominent a part, that has paid the best tribute to his memory. When Orme, after the pub lication of the first volume of his history, visited France, Bussy asked him to visit him at his chateau because he considered himself under an obligation to the historian for the precision and impartiality with which he had recorded his actions. The French general presented his guest with several important documents, including a narrative of his career in India, which unfortunately was never printed. He also gave him a draft of the routes of his various marches. As Orme states : " Bussy was the only man of distinguished capacity who served under Dupleix, and Dupleix's conduct to this officer showed that he knew the value of merit, and was capable of employing it to the utmost advantage, for although M. Bussy had by his expedition to the northward acquired much reputation and a great fortune, he beheld his successor without the least envy, and implicitly followed his advice in all affairs of which M. Bussy by his situation might be a better judge than himself." Far different was the behaviour of Lally. Arrogant and vain, he was jealous of Bussy and dispensed with the Indian experience of the sepoy general. " The practice of European warfare," writes Colonel Wilkes, " was with him the bed of Procrustes to which all Indian habits and prejudices must be forcibly accommodated." If Lally had taken the advice of Bussy all hopes of French dominion in the East would not have perished at the fatal field of Wandewash. Bussy was among the prisoners, and Colonel Coote did homage to his character by immediately complying with his request for a passport to Pondicherry. The Madras Government were wroth when they heard that Eyre Coote had allowed Bussy to depart, for in those days paroles were frequently broken, and they requested that Coote should ask Bussy to return to camp, according to his promise to surrender himself when requested. Bussy was ill and some delay took place in complying with the request. Lally, when too late, realised the value of Bussy's experience and know ledge of war, and attempted to ransom him. The fiery Eyre Coote, ever ready to take offence, wrote to the Madras Government : But Eyre Coote did an injustice to Bussy, who wrote him an indignant manly letter, warmly repudiating the insinuation that he was capable of breaking his word, and stating that he would return to camp as soon as his health would permit. He kept his promise, and after staying a short time at Madras, he returned to France. After an absence of twenty-four years, Bussy returned to India; but standing by his grave we forget the Bussy, incompetent from age and disease, and think of the brave and gallant leader who led the storming party at Gingee.